How to Write a Media Plan Media Plan Outline

. How to Write a Media Plan: Media Plan Outline November 1995 PURPOSE Increasingly, ICOM agencies are being asked to write a media plan for their market or markets as part of a more extensive media recommendation for a region or globally. The purpose of this document is to provide a standard format to increase our "look" as a network, to simplify to work and to allow the requesting agency to know in what format the recommendation will be submitted. Please type the recommendation in Times Roman, a type font available on Word and Word Perfect, the two most heavily used word processing software options. Use 12 point type. (This document is in that type face and point size.) This plan is an extraction from "How to Write a Marketing Plan," ICOM guidebook. That outline is expanded because the requested recommendation requires a more detailed media plan. MEDIA PLAN OUTLINE "How to Write a Marketing Plan" has already been cited. (Additional copies are available from headquarters.) That plan has a format for a summary media plan when the entire marketing plan is being presented, as follows: FORMAT A proposed format for preparation of each tactics section is as follows: 1. 2. 3. 4. Rationale Tactics Execution Budget Recap www.icomagencies.com It is believed that no restatement of objectives and marketing strategies is required in each section of the plan; to do so would be redundant, since they are the same for each section. SECTION CONTENT 1. Rationale The purpose of the Rationale section is to state the general characteristics which media, creative, marketing, or research approaches should have in order to implement the strategy. How to Write a Media Plan: Media Plan Outline 11/1995 2. Tactics The Tactics area sets forth the basic ideas or actions that fulfill or offer those characteristics covered by the Rationale. 3. Execution Then the Execution portion shows the specific manner and detailed plan of how the ideas, or tactics, will be carried out. 4. Budget Recap The Budget Recap summarizes the cost of executing the Tactics. For a specifically requested media plan, an expanded media recommendation is called for. Here is the outline for such a plan. A. Media Objectives State here as measurably as possible the objectives of the campaign. These should correspond to the overall strategic objectives of the marketing plan but not restate them. This section is for the media objectives. Keep it short, only two or three points. E.g.: 1. Reach the target audience during the period of highest buying decision (reach target: 35%). Increase the share of mind (awareness) of the client (by amount, if possible). Provide an actionable and measurable response vehicle. 2. 3. B. Media Strategy 1. Budget (recommended or assigned). The budget sets the limits and defines the scope of the media plan. Best to identify it at the outside. Defend the recommendation here if it is not already assigned by the client. 2. Target Audience Frequently the target audience of the plan must be refined or listed in terms of priority for a media plan to be understood and approved. Some part of the total target audience may not be sought by the media -- and reached by other parts of the plan: in-store sampling, specific geographic areas that are better reached by direct marketing or public relations, for example. If the target audience has been stated by the requesting agency, restate the target audience only if you are refining it or revising it for local application. -2- How to Write a Media Plan: Media Plan Outline 11/1995 3. Seasonality The "open to buy" period of the target audience may be restricted: summer vacations, ski holidays, Christmas gift items, for example. However, the lead times may vary considerably by country. The English tend to book holidays well ahead, the Germans and Americans plan less far ahead. Also, national holidays not celebrated everywhere may effect media schedules: Chinese New Year, Three Kings, Thanksgiving, Independence Days, for example. Cite these. National elections, Olympic or major sporting events may distort media prices and force media decisions on the planners. Cite these. 4. Regionality Some regions of a market may have a very high index of the target audience. Import car buyers in the USA concentrate heavily in California and the Eastern seaboard -- but not in the center of the country. The index of economic power is much higher in Paris and London than in the rest of those countries. 5. City or Market Size Some products have powerful indices in urban areas, others in smaller cities. Identify these skews as part of the strategy. 6. Other Considerations There may not be a trade magazine for the category in the country and an unexpected medium may have to be recommended. Or, costs may be so high for one medium as to make it unacceptable, as in countries where the national TV is controlled and prices set at maximum market bearing levels. A global campaign based on newspapers could be unwise in a country in which newspaper costs are excessive, but magazines are more competitive. C. Media Recommendation 1. Media Situation Concentrate here the specific facts that will undergird the recommendation. These could be market trends, aggressive competitive entries, perceived niches not now being exploited, anticipated changes in buying habits, currency trends, new media coming on stream. 2. Media Rationale Briefly state the media rationale, why the recommended media, time periods, sizes, commercial lengths and other parameters were chosen. 3. Tactics -3- How to Write a Media Plan: Media Plan Outline 11/1995 As it implies, lay out the specifics of the plan. 4. Execution Show the schedule by flow chart or calendar. 5. Other There may be other specifics to be explained, such as the use of split-runs to facilitate testing of approaches. D. Summary Media plans can get complicated, sometimes needlessly so. Consequently, it is wise to present a simple, emphasis on simple, summary of each medium. Here is a good one, with one page per medium: Period Budget Target Group Specific Vehicle (TV 3 or CNN) Audience, Circulation, etc. Length or Size Insertions or Transmissions Reach (or Coverage) 4 week reach/frequency Total reach/frequency Opportunity to See (if appropriate) Target Rating Points (or similar) E. F. G. Flow Chart with Budget by Period Budget by Medium Appendices There are times when syndicated or outside research can be added as a supplement and merely referenced in the outline above. SUMMARY AND EXAMPLES In the recent Thailand Tourism submission on behalf of Far East Advertising, very professional media plans were submitted -- but they lacked a common face. Thus, this document. On the other hand, there were some excellent parts of each plan. Several are included here as examples. -4-